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Cats belt Swans at home by 44 points

John Salvado

Geelong played Sydney off the park and out of AFL top-two calculations with a commanding 44-point win at Simonds Stadium on Saturday.

The Cats only need to beat struggling Brisbane next weekend to guarantee a top-two finish and a home qualifying final, while the Swans will finish third or fourth and have to travel in week one of the playoffs.

In a further blow to Sydney's premiership defence, running defender Rhyce Shaw ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee early in the first quarter and faces a year on the sidelines.

"He's disappointed," said Sydney coach John Longmire.

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"He felt it go and I think he knew exactly what it was at the time.

"It's the second one for us for the year (following another season-ending knee injury to Alex Johnson), one at the start of the year and one at the end of the year to a couple of really good players."

The Cats were in control throughout and would have won by more if not for some reckless finishing in front of goal in the 13.14 (92) to 7.6 (48) victory.

But they were still able to hold the reigning premiers to their lowest score of the year in a match played in perfect conditions.

The Cats had a host of good players, among them Steve Johnson (26 possessions and four goals), Mathew Stokes, Mitch Duncan and skipper Joel Selwood.

Steven Motlop also capped an impressive outing by jumping over the top of Duncan late in the final quarter to pull in a contender for mark of the year.

Sydney were best served by co-captain Jarrad McVeigh, while ruck-forward Mike Pyke took several strong contested marks and kicked three of his team's meagre tally of seven goals.

Triple premiership star Paul Chapman started as substitute in his first outing since round four, but was able to enter the fray early in the opening quarter when big Cat Nathan Vardy was subbed off after being accidentally kneed in the head by opposing ruckman Shane Mumford.

Chapman made the most of it, gathering nine possessions and a goal before again donning the green vest late in the term when Vardy was cleared of concussion and passed fit to come back on.

Fan favourite Chapman finished the match with an encouraging 14 touches and is likely to play a full game next weekend in Geelong's last pre-game finals tune-up against the Lions.

The Cats boast a formidable 8-1 win-loss record against the other top-eight sides this year.

"We're pretty confident that we play our best footy against the best teams," said Geelong coach Chris Scott.

"Obviously, we've have lapses in games this year, probably lost a couple of games where we were in control but, if I could have one or the other, I'd take playing well against good teams."

Geelong have won 42 of their past 43 matches at this venue dating back to round three, 2008 - with the only blemish being a 13-point loss to Sydney late in 2011.